About

Bass-Baritone Liam James Karai’s voice is distinguished by his stately yet agile vocal technique, that carries a confident authority with soft, dark, and multicoloured timbre. Hong-Kong born, and of Scottish, Irish and Indian heritage, Karai continues to make successful and celebrated debuts across top European opera houses, captivating audiences with his strong voice and compelling stage presence.

Karai’s 25/26 season starts with a debut with the WDR Orchestra where he will sing the role of First Nazarene in their tour of Salome. In the spring, Karai will return to Teatro di San Carlo in Naples to debut the role of Marcello in La Bohème. Karai also has house debuts with Opera North as Figaro in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, with Teatro Municipal De Santiago as Jochanaan in Salome & with Nederlandse Reisopera in their world premier of HAGAR. The season will finish with a debut at Glyndebourne as Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos.

The 24/25 season marked a significant period of growth and success for Karai. Highlights included house debuts at Teatro di San Carlo, Tiroler Festspiele Erl, Semperoper Dresden, and the Polish National Opera. He also returned to the Hamburg Staatsoper as a guest artist, following his time as a member of their International Opera Studio in the 23/24 season. Over the course of the season, Karai showcased his versatility in a range of roles, including Escamillo in Carmen and Angelotti in Tosca at the Polish National Opera, Schaunard in La Bohème at Erl, and First Nazarene in Strauss’s Salome, performed in Hamburg, Napoli and with the LSO under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano. Across the season, he appeared as a finalist in several prestigious international competitions, including the Tenor Viñas Competition in Barcelona, Operalia in Mumbai, where he was awarded a finalist prize, and the Riccardo Zandonai Competition in Riva del Garda where he also was a prize winner. These accomplishments follow previous success as a finalist in the 41st edition of the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition and second prize winner at the 4th Antonina Campi Singing Competition.

In the 23/24 season, Karai was a member of the International Opera Studio at Hamburg Staatsoper. His roles there included Angelotti in Tosca, Hobson in Peter Grimes, Figaro (Cover) and Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro, Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto & Alcindoro in La bohème. He also performed as Escamillo in Carmen at Oper Frankfurt and Staatstheater Mainz, appeared in a concert version of Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet as Horatio at Salzburg Festspiele and sang in new production of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at Oper Leipzig and Staatsoper Hamburg. Concert highlights include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as a Bass Soloist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Hans Graf), two galas with the Orquestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears, and an Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal debut in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Hamburg Philharmonic under Kent Nagano.

Prior to the 23/24 season, Karai also performed bass solos in Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium, and made his Elbphilharmonie Kleiner Saal debut singing excerpts from Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, and La jolie fille de Perth. He has also appeared with the Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg, performing roles from Le Nozze di Figaro and Cenerentola.

Karai completed both a Master of Music and a Postgraduate Diploma on full scholarship at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, studying under Quentin Hayes. During his time there, he received the Sir John Tomlinson and Andrew Lloyd Webber Scholarships, won the 2021 Frederic Cox Award, the Robin Kay Memorial Prize, and the RNCM Silver Medal. He also won the Joaninha Trust Award and was a prize winner in the Clonter Opera Prize.